Perhaps through exercising a consistent light source rendering you could better anchor the characters to the backdrop. I believe this is salvageable to where adding pastel colors (lights and shadows) to the characters may package this up nicely.

At 2/14/14 02:12 PM, ZleapingBear wrote:

At 2/14/14 10:17 AM, fxscreamer wrote:
I decided to start an art thread based off my first post a couple weeks ago. It should be slowly populated over time. :D
Anyway, here's my Valentine's Day pic.
Full pic link is here on my channel: http://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/fxscreamer/my-heart-is-yours

I really like the art, both the back ground and the characters.

Both your characters and the back ground is really well made, so why not make them in the same style?

At 2/14/14 02:53 PM, maficmelody wrote:
Perhaps through exercising a consistent light source rendering you could better anchor the characters to the backdrop. I believe this is salvageable to where adding pastel colors (lights and shadows) to the characters may package this up nicely.

At 2/14/14 02:12 PM, ZleapingBear wrote:

At 2/14/14 10:17 AM, fxscreamer wrote:
I decided to start an art thread based off my first post a couple weeks ago. It should be slowly populated over time. :D
Anyway, here's my Valentine's Day pic.
Full pic link is here on my channel: http://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/fxscreamer/my-heart-is-yours

I really like the art, both the back ground and the characters.

Both your characters and the back ground is really well made, so why not make them in the same style?

It's interesting with this being said, cause I had another friend mention it before I released it. What I think I can do next time is put a little more paint and gradients in the characters, and add a bit more hard shading lines to the background. I can try to make them meet in the middle. I'm at a dilemma with my art style because I really like soft and lush toned backgrounds, but very Disney and Saturday morning cartoon character cell shading.

Tried another concept, and moved really fast on it. There are some anatomy problems I think, and the pose and expression still isn't as dramatic as I want, but that's why I practice. I tried to make some comedy with it too. :D

Here's a front headshot of Enzo, which is a somewhat retouched version of his concept I aimed for straight-up Disney eyes. I feel this could be the finalized tone and look for my characters. I'm still working on Daphne.

At 2/24/14 06:56 PM, fxscreamer wrote:
A banner I made for a contest. The odds are stacked against me, but had to try. I drew humans again...and for the first time....anime.

You can download the full-res 2000x550 here, so you can see more detail. (keeping on DA right now for contest purposes).
http://fxscreamer.deviantart.com/art/The-Wind-Rises-Contest-Entry-436326839

That's awesome! What software do you use I'd love to be able to find some tutorials to start learning this style? Keep it up look forward to seeing more!

- sb

Hey thanks! I mainly use Adobe Flash for my line work using an entry level Wacom Pen and Touch. I then export the PNG in giant resolution and do all coloring, shading, and cleanup in Photoshop. I try to export the line art at least 200-300 DPI to keep everything nice and sharp. After you do all your coloring work, then downsize for distribution (1920x1200 for example), everything crisps up just that much more. :D

I will say while Flash is quite beneficial for its line smoothing tool adjustments, it's not perfect. If you can master line art in Photoshop, you can ultimately get an even CLEANER result. I feel Cintiques are more adjusted for that though.

If you want some great drawing tips, check out Draw With Jazza on YouTube. It's very helpful stuff.

Arlo Cashmere is the older brother of Enzo Cashmere, and also the main character of my project. This is the very first official concept of him. I'll be honest, it's been giving me issues. I'm still not sure if I'm happy with the design. I've already gone through at least 4-5 redesigns of him before I found something that seemed acceptable. I suppose I'll have to give it some time and think about it. I'll eventually have his pose and expression sheet, but won't happen until I really lock in the look. I got sloppy on the body, but didn't seem to matter to me for this picture since I knew it wasn't a final design. The line work is extremely rough too. :P

I went ahead and did the background because you can't get enough practice. It was a speed run. :D

Quick thought on the background: If you're going to use stencil brushes, do a final pass to 'mess it up' and break the obvious use of a stamp. Specifically, I'm referring to the tops of the trees.

At 3/1/14 11:09 PM, fxscreamer wrote:
Arlo Cashmere is the older brother of Enzo Cashmere, and also the main character of my project. This is the very first official concept of him. I'll be honest, it's been giving me issues. I'm still not sure if I'm happy with the design. I've already gone through at least 4-5 redesigns of him before I found something that seemed acceptable. I suppose I'll have to give it some time and think about it. I'll eventually have his pose and expression sheet, but won't happen until I really lock in the look. I got sloppy on the body, but didn't seem to matter to me for this picture since I knew it wasn't a final design. The line work is extremely rough too. :P

I went ahead and did the background because you can't get enough practice. It was a speed run. :D

Just a random curious question.
What do you plan on doing with your characters once you flesh them out?
Are you gonna make a comic or a flash animation about their adventures or is this just characters you just want to add with your paintings?

Also, the background is nice and all, but you really do love mountains and trees. x3

I had planned to make it a comic. The thing is, I'm wanting to make it in an art style where it looks like screenshots from a Disney film. I want a very liquid cell / film animation look. I don't see it starting for at least another year though. I still have a lot to learn through drawing, plus the story is far from done, but I definitely have a solid start on it. You are right on the mountains and trees. Don't worry, I know I'll need to change it up, do towns, low light shots, night shots, etc. The backgrounds aren't nearly as important right now as the character designs at the moment. :P

At 3/2/14 05:05 AM, fxscreamer wrote:
I had planned to make it a comic. The thing is, I'm wanting to make it in an art style where it looks like screenshots from a Disney film. I want a very liquid cell / film animation look. I don't see it starting for at least another year though. I still have a lot to learn through drawing, plus the story is far from done, but I definitely have a solid start on it. You are right on the mountains and trees. Don't worry, I know I'll need to change it up, do towns, low light shots, night shots, etc. The backgrounds aren't nearly as important right now as the character designs at the moment. :P

Have you tried scanning a traditionally drawn painting and editing that by dodge and burn tools and multiply layers?
I mean, you really have a strong idea on painting backgrounds, so maybe that stuff and all that jazz might be easy for you.
I don't know, just an idea.
I really want to try this, but I don't have a scanner and I still can't grasp shading and other coloring stuff.

BTW, I'll deviate from those mountains and trees. How about fire? LOL

And regarding your backgrounds, this is just an idea but could you make them simpler?
With how cute and cartoony your characters look, maybe less would be more.

At 3/2/14 05:05 AM, fxscreamer wrote:
I had planned to make it a comic. The thing is, I'm wanting to make it in an art style where it looks like screenshots from a Disney film. I want a very liquid cell / film animation look. I don't see it starting for at least another year though. I still have a lot to learn through drawing, plus the story is far from done, but I definitely have a solid start on it. You are right on the mountains and trees. Don't worry, I know I'll need to change it up, do towns, low light shots, night shots, etc. The backgrounds aren't nearly as important right now as the character designs at the moment. :P

Have you tried scanning a traditionally drawn painting and editing that by dodge and burn tools and multiply layers?
I mean, you really have a strong idea on painting backgrounds, so maybe that stuff and all that jazz might be easy for you.
I don't know, just an idea.
I really want to try this, but I don't have a scanner and I still can't grasp shading and other coloring stuff.

BTW, I'll deviate from those mountains and trees. How about fire? LOL

And regarding your backgrounds, this is just an idea but could you make them simpler?
With how cute and cartoony your characters look, maybe less would be more.

It sounds like you're speaking of Tracy Butler's shading method (Lackadaisy). I haven't tried that yet, but I know similar methods like that are useful for low lighting and luminosity techniques. You also spoke of simpler backgrounds.

Welp...here's Nibbles. I took a little more time on him than Scorch, and made a living room setting. I went with soft pastels and colors, going for a minimal yet effective look. Full version is in my gallery.